The Barn
Freesteading group focused on the discussion of livestock.
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Pigs OR Goats?
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Pigs OR Goats?
I am in the process of expanding my small Homestead. My chicken flock is well established. I would like to add either a few pigs solely for meat or a couple of goats for yard maintenance and possibly milk for cheeses or soaps. I have no experience with either goats or pigs. I am at the beginning stages of planning and education. Any input from this community, pro or con, is so greatly appreciated!
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28 Replies
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Personally from what I have seen out here in the Province of the Philippines, Goats are the way to go. Less health issues, feed problems (they will mow your grass), and they ARE delicious as meat if you needed. I think you just get more ROI with goats.
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Thank you! Return on investment is where my mind is at! I want the biggest bang for the buck with the most utility. 🙂
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I am in the same situation. Have a few hens for eggs. Electric fencing set up for hogs to clear the woods for pasture hopefully. Im looking for guinea hogs. Interested to see what replies you get. Good luck.
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It’s comforting to know there’s someone else in the same position! Please feel free to join in and ask your questions too! I’m not even sure what questions I should be asking yet!!!!
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I have both and have had both for a number of years. AGH and Nubian X whatever X fainting. Both are hard to keep restrained they just like the challenge it would seem. But AHG can usually sustain themselves given the space and they have medium size litters. Goats are good but not as good and they usually have one or two offspring at a time. Selling piglets can be fairly profitable. More people here prefer to eat pork over goat. Both can be very handy when it comes to manually clearing land. Goats will eat a lot of stuff pigs even more so from what I’ve seen.
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Well…. When I initially started thinking about pigs, I was thinking about meat for myself and possibly selling piglets. This would help sustain myself as I’m trying to get as further away from the grid as I can. My one concern with pigs is that I am a single grandma (mid-50s) and I am wondering if I could physically handle pigs. With goats, not knowing much about them yet, I was thinking they might be physically easier for me to handle. Profit would be less, I think, from whatever I could produce from the goats. So much to think about! Thank you so much for all of the information you shared.
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When I get the land to justify the addition of large livestock I would add sheep. The meat is supposed to be delicious and the wool wouldn’t be a bad addition to the homestead.
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Kune Kune pigs as super easy to pen, fence or handle.
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They they don’t root up as much either
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I agree. We just got started with three gilts in spring and we can’t say enough good things about them. They love being out in the pasture, are actually quite clean and super friendly. They are a lot of fun to have around. We put out a cheap kiddie pool for them to cool off in and they’re out there all the time. We’ll start breeding them next year and raising our own pork.
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My sister has both and has alot more trouble from goats than pigs. They get out and seem more upkeep than pigs
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I have been hearing that goats can be quite The escape artists!
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Hahaha yes. For the most part she had them so spoiled they didnt want to go far but still. Not sure what kind hers were but they seem to have more health issues than her pig. Also guess which do you like best milk and cheese or bacon and ham
🙂 me I like bacon
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I am all about the bacon! 🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓
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I’ve had goats for decades. they are hard to keep in sometimes. they are smart. don’t let them see how you unlock the gate, if it doesn’t absolutely have to have thumbs to open…. from my experience, pigmy goats, no matter how short and fat, are actually excellent climbers and jumpers. we’d had some that would regularly go over a 4′ fence – only touching toes to bounce to the other side. angora goats aren’t as smart. they are more like keeping sheep – they stay in the fence well (but like sheep, look for stupid ways to die). nubian goats are also easier to keep in a fence – as long as the fence is strong enough not to lean over if they stand on it ( i would highly recommend an electric fence to keep them off of it) one of my nubian bucks could stand on his hind legs and reach up into the trees as high as i could – but he never got out or gave me problems. Nigerian dwarfs, pigmys, and my mutt goats are active, intelligent, and just beg to get into trouble.
I would recommend making a fence worthy of fort knox before bringing goats home. I like stock pannels with 2″×4″ welded wire wired on top of it, with a hot line a foot inside to keep them off. that seems to work the best and is movable if i need to. they will get their head stuck in anything they can put it through. they will tear up the fence from pushing on it if they can reach through. surprisingly large goats can actually squeeze through a stock pannel square. the 4″ square “goat pannels” are weaker than cattle pannels, more expensive and you trade adult goats getting stuck with baby goats getting stuck in it.
if you have a good enough fence from the beginning, goats are a joy to have. they are smart, trainable, funny, frendly, the milk is delicious, they are tasty as meat too….
but if you don’t have a good fence – you, your neighbors, your garden, your orchard, the wireing under the truck, the hood/top of your car and your flower beds will all hate them….
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Of the two I think pigs, AGH American Guinea Hogs are about the easiest. No where near the trouble of larger breeds. They do take longer to grow out and you have to be careful of over feeding. You want them healthy not fat! Fat sows have a lot more trouble in giving birth.
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Good to know! I will research those pigs tomorrow! This might sound like a dumb question but, do you get a sire for your pig? Like dog breeders do? I only want to start out with one or two pigs for meat purposes. But, should I decide on trying to sell piglets, how does one go about doing that?
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You could get a few females and a male or you can get a couple of each it depends on your end goal. I started out with five females and three males that were unrelated which gave me a large breeding circle.
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Yes. I have heard American guinea hogs are great for starting out. I’m looking for 2 females that are not piglets. Hard to find any guinea hogs in S.C. Not ready for that yet. I’m a single grandma in my late sixties still working 3 days a week..
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Thank you! I’m in North Carolina. I will start looking for American guinea hogs in my area see what the availability is like.
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I live just north of the Va NC line about 35 miles north of Kerr and Gaston and I am sure they are around since a friend sells both our piglets in the area
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That’sThat’s great! I live just south of the line in Hertford county. My kids are in Suffolk and Whaleyville….
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Check your local craigslist and or hit local barn sales and markets you should find plenty
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Check out Korean pig raising. My husband is in love with their style. Clean, easy to maintain and minimal smell.
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Thank you for the vote of confidence!
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If you had your choice of only one, pigs or goats, which one would you start out with?
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